#blessed au

Danger. 

She was in danger.

Shelby was in danger!

Katherine swerved between the trees with great precision, well familiar with the forest’s layout from years of wandering the trails and hunting for the village. Her raven black hair was pinned back with butterfly clips to keep her bangs out of her eyes, but it had not been tied back with a hair tie. The locks streamed behind her as she ran, lifted by the wind.

Her heart beat loudly in her chest and her lungs heaved with the effort that came with her speed, but she couldn’t stop now. Not when Shelby’s life was on the line.

“Shelby!” Katherine called again, voice hoarse from her previous cries. She tried to quiet her breathing to hear better, but the effort was in vain. No response.

Katherine rubbed her eyes with the back of her fist, trying to get the tears that trailed down her face to cease. They were hindering her efforts by blurring her vision. She needed her eyes to perform better, to find them.

“Katherine?” a soft voice croaked, almost too quiet to hear. It was so small and faint that Katherine wasn’t sure if she had imagined it or not.

“Shelby?” She stopped jogging (her previous running had become too much to keep up) to hear the voice better, much to her body’s relief. Katherine placed a hand on her chest to help herself guide her lung’s breathing as she spun around frantically. “Shelby, is that you?”

“You shouldn’t be out here,” the same voice from before continued. Katherine was able to pinpoint where the voice’s owner was this time, the joy she felt quickly dissipating when she saw the state they were in. “It’s getting late. The monsters will start coming out.”

Shelby was curled up in a crevasse, hidden away from the sight line of the main trails. Her left shoulder appeared to be popped out of place, the exposed skin on her arms was badly bruised (Katherine suspected that elsewhere on their body looked the same), and sticky-looking scarlet red blood soaked the front of her shirt. Their right hand was pressed against what must be a wound on their stomach.

“What happened? What did they do to you?” Katherine almost didn’t dare to ask, knowing the answer wouldn’t be pleasant. She crouched down in front of her “friend” (they acted more like lovers than friends, but they hadn’t had that conversation yet) to better assess the damage and try to think of what needed to be done to help her.

“They wanted me to cry,” Shelby gave her a weak smile, tilting her chin up to meet Katherine’s gaze, “so I cried for them.”

Katherine’s chest tightened uncomfortably, knowing how valuable Shelby’s tears were. They cried pure, liquid silver and could do spells, one of those more sought after than the other. The silver sometimes had magical properties, which only made it more valuable and desired. The spells, on the other hand, couldn’t be taken by force. Even if they could be taken like that, they weren’t the most powerful spells in the world (Shelby called them weak), but Katherine thought they were rather impressive nonetheless.

Shelby had confided in Katherine, trusting her with her secret. They had been expecting her to keep their secret and to keep them safe… while she had done one of those correctly, Katherine hadn’t managed to live up to Shelby’s expectations or her own. Katherine hadn’t managed to protect her like she promised she would.

“Shelby, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Katherine tried to blink away her own tears as she reached forward to gently brush Shelby’s dark brown curls out of their face to see them better. Shelby’s pale yellow eyes lacked their usual energy and awkward charm that Katherine adored so much. Instead, her eyes were puffy and bloodshot with liquid silver lines streaking her cheeks. 

“I came as soon as I learned what happened. I overheard these men, these awful men, saying the most horrible things,” Katherine averted her gaze, unable to look Shelby in the eye anymore, “and complaining about how you got away in such… such crude and degrading words, and… and I- I can’t imagine what they said to you if that’s how they act when you aren’t there. I’m sorry, Shelby, I- You don’t deserve that. I know I failed to protect you, but-”

“Katherine,” Shelby interrupted her in a soft yet firm tone, cupping Katherine’s face with her hand. Her hand was rough with mostly dried blood, but Katherine didn’t dare complain. Shelby tried to give her a smile when their eyes met again, but it was sad and hopeless. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. You did what you could and you protected me long enough. Without you  there, it would have happened earlier. It… it was bound to happen eventually. It was just a matter of time.”

“It shouldn’t have to be that way though!” Katherine protested, holding Shelby’s hand to her face. “People shouldn’t be this horrible. You’re amazing, Shelby! You don’t deserve this.”

“I am one of the Blessed. Silver tears are a part of my Gift. They were only making use of me, just as the gods intended.” Shelby’s disdain for the title forced upon her by the land’s gods was crystal clear, but there was little she could do about it. There was little Katherine could do about it either, despite how much she wished she could take away Shelby’s burdens. 

Those who were Blessed had certain responsibilities to perform, but the system was corrupt and cruel, so Shelby fled. The outside world wanted to exploit the gifted as well, but Shelby had wanted to take her chances.

“I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t, so I might as well see what it’s like outside of the gilded cage I was raised in.”

Katherine recalled what Shelby had told her during one of their many “sleepovers” in Katherine’s bedroom. They had told her that they didn’t stay in one place for very long out of fear of getting caught, but Katherine persuaded them to not leave this time… to stay with her…

What a foolish plea that had been.

What a selfish plea that had been!

Shelby was now paying the price for Katherine’s selfishness. Katherine should have been the one suffering, not Shelby. Shelby had done nothing wrong. She didn’t deserve it. How could such a fun, kind, beautiful, sweet, loving soul deserve such a harsh fate?

Katherine had found herself enamored with Shelby as soon as they opened their mouth. That affection only grew as their conversation went on. One hour turned into two, two hours turned into days, days turned into months… Every moment with Shelby was a moment Katherine cherished. Her initial infatuation blossomed into something more, only growing the more they talked and the more they learned about each other.

She had never been so happy until Shelby came into her life… and this is how she repaid her. Katherine tried to shove the feelings of self-hatred away, knowing that they weren’t doing anything to help her or to help Shelby. Shelby was her focus right now.

Katherine has already expressed her opinions about Shelby’s “Gift” and the view Shelby had about it, so she kept her mouth shut. Now wasn’t the time for that conversation, especially because it would only cause Shelby more suffering. They had enough to deal with already. “I’m going to relocate your shoulder then take a look at your stomach wound. Is that okay?” “Mhm,” Shelby hummed as they let their hand fall from Katherine’s face. She pressed the hand back against her stomach and squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation. “Please be quick.”

“I will,” Katherine promised, positioning herself to relocate Shelby’s left shoulder. She counted down from three in her head before forcing Shelby’s shoulder to pop back into place. 

Shelby winced from the pain, a small cry escaping her lips. Shelby’s cry turned into a weak, shuddering laugh and, before Katherine could apologize again, she breathed out a “Thank you.” Katherine wanted to dispute that appreciation, knowing she didn’t deserve it, but she bit her tongue. She unclipped the buckles of Shelby’s overalls and gently lifted Shelby’s shirt to see the wound on her stomach. It wasn’t actively bleeding, but it didn’t look pretty. It was probably a few days old, at least.

“It was my punishment for not behaving,” Shelby explained bitterly before Katherine could ask, voice cracking in agony. “‘Come on, pretty lady. I know you have more tears than that left in you.’ It was hard to escape with it.” “You’re so brave,” Katherine praised, redirecting the conversation off of the men’s crimes against her. The fact that Shelby had been subjected to so much abuse and still managed to escape was admirable. “I’m proud of you. You are really tough for making it all the way out here on your own.”

“I needed to find my way back to you,” the words were said so genuinely that they made Katherine’s heart flutter, “but it seems you have found me first.”

“I couldn’t bear it if I lost you.” Katherine pressed her forehead against Shelby’s, closing her eyes. The position was somewhat uncomfortable for she was almost straddling Shelby. Her knees were planted on opposite sides of her legs and her hands were by Shelby’s torso to make sure she didn’t fall forward into her. Still, even with the mild discomfort, she didn’t move.

“I… I love you, Shelby,” Katherine admitted earnestly. “Wherever you want to go, I will go with you. I will stay by your side for however long you’ll have me. We can travel the world together! We could see so many things and go on those adventures we talked about. We won’t stay anywhere long enough for people to figure out that you’re Blessed, but we’ll have each other. I didn’t want you to leave because that means you’ll leave me, but if you allow me to go with you…” Shelby didn’t speak for several moments, even as Katherine trailed off her rambling, but Katherine didn’t expect her to respond right away. She had given them a lot to process to the point it was almost too much with how much their head must be pounding.

Katherine almost pulled away, thinking that she may have crossed a line when Shelby’s soft lips met hers. It wasn’t a very deep or passionate kiss, but that didn’t matter to Katherine. The almost fragile affection was addicting, only working as confirmation of what Katherine already knew.

I will protect her and love her until my final breath.

They stared at each other once the kiss ended, the ends of Shelby’s lips twitching up. That slightly awkward charm Shelby tended to carry with her (that Katherine loved) had returned, flushing Shelby’s cheeks a rosy pink. “I love you too, Katherine.” 

They had told each other “I love you” before, but the weight behind the words was more significant, especially when paired with the promise of leaving the village together. The words weren’t simply affections exchanged between ordinary friends; they were words exchanged between two souls who refused to exist without each other.

The pure bliss Katherine experienced swelling within her at those words was not easily contained, but she tried her best to do so. Shelby needed medical attention and they needed to plan their next move. Gushing over how wonderful Katherine thought Shelby was would have to come later.

“Let’s get you taken care of and we’ll figure out what to do from there.” Katherine rebuckled Shelby’s overalls before rising to her full height. She stretched her limbs in preparation as she shifted her position. When Katherine crouched down again, she tucked her arm under Shelby’s knees and used the other to support their back.

Shelby wrapped their arms around Katherine’s neck for stability once she lifted them. She buried her face against Katherine’s chest, practically clinging against her. “I thought I would never see you again. That’s what scared me the most… I wanted to, at least, say ‘goodbye.’” Katherine’s heart shattered like glass at Shelby’s confession, but she did her best to piece her heart back together. She pressed a kiss against Shelby’s forehead as she walked them back towards the village. “I told you, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay with you as long as you’ll have me… as long as you want me.”